Those We Lost — October 1

Honoring those we lost on October 1 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Mary Logan Reddick

Born December 31, 1914 — died October 1, 1966

Neuroembryologist and biology professor

Reddick earned her PhD at Radcliffe College, Harvard University, in 1944, with a dissertation on chick embryos, and did tissue-culture research using time-lapse microscopy. She was the first woman biology instructor at Morehouse College and later a full professor at Atlanta University from 1953 until her death. In 1952 a Ford Foundation science fellowship took her to Cambridge University; she was possibly the first Black American woman scientist to receive that fellowship for study abroad.

Al Jackson Jr.

Born November 27, 1935 — died October 1, 1975

Drummer, producer, songwriter, and founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s

Known as the Human Timekeeper, Jackson supplied the precise, restrained pulse behind many Stax recordings and also helped shape records by Al Green and other Southern soul artists. His drumming helped define the Memphis soul sound. Booker T. & the M.G.’s entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and Jackson was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Beverly “Guitar” Watkins

Born April 6, 1939 — died October 1, 2019

Blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader

Watkins began performing professionally with Piano Red and the Interns and built a decades-long career grounded in electric blues, gospel, R&B, and Atlanta’s live-music community. Her fierce guitar style and late-career touring made her a vital link between the Southern blues circuit and new audiences. She received the Georgia Music Legend Award in 2012.

Cain Hope Felder

Born June 9, 1943 — died October 1, 2019

Biblical scholar and professor

Felder taught New Testament language and literature at the Howard University School of Divinity from 1981 until 2016, edited The Journal of Religious Thought, and chaired the school’s Doctor of Philosophy program.